Lake of the Woods Democratic Club

Dorren Brown, executive director of the Orange County Free Clinic, will be guest speaker at the club’s April 9 meeting.

The meeting will take place at Classroom II of the LOW Community Center. The program will start at 1:30 p.m. following a social time beginning at 1 p.m.

Brown has been executive director of the clinic since shortly after it first opened its doors in 2007. With more than 18 years of leadership, she has guided the organization from a small operation in space donated by the county Health Department  serving 87 patients with an all-volunteer provider team to a vital health care facility with 13 paid staff and more than 4,500 patient visits each year.

Her career began in education, where she spent 31 years as a teacher and administrator. She taught U.S. history and drama before moving into school leadership as a principal.

The Orange County Free Clinic was established as a 501-C-3 non-profit organization to provide basic health care to qualifying adult individuals, those who are uninsured, underinsured and hae incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal proverty level. The idea for starting a free clinic in Orange County was inspired by a group of committed physicians and community leaders sensitive to the lack of accessible health care for uninsured low income residents in Orange County.

As a community based health care provider, the Orange County Free Clinic is supported by the Town of Orange, Orange County, Gordonsville Town and numerous community organizations,  individuals, private foundations and grants and does not receive direct federal funding for operations.

Orange County Free Clinic web site

Orange County Supervisor J. Bryan Nicol will speak to the LOW Democratic Club on March 12 about current issues facing Lake of the Woods.

The club’s meeting will take place in Classroom 2 of the LOW Community Center. A gathering period will begin at 1 p.m. and the program will commence at 1:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend, regardless of political affiliation.

Nicol, who has represented District 5, which includes Lake of the Woods, since 2023, is a former deputy attorney general of the State of Indiana and served as commissioner and deputy commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation. He is currently chief strategy officer for an architecture, engineering and consulting firm. He and his family have lived in Lake of the Woods for 15 years.

Nicol writes a regular report to Orange County residents under the title “Nicol’s News” in Lake Currents.

In addition, the club is preparing to participate in the next “No Kings” rally on March 28 in Culpeper to call attention to excesses of the current administration in Washington. A work session is planned for 4-6 p.m. on March 25 in the lower level of the Clubhouse to prepare posters and placards for the event.

The club has begun its campaign to encourage voting in the special election on April 21 to temporarily allow congressional districts to be redrawn to ensure a fair vote for congressional candidates. The measure is in response to lawmakers in at least three Republican-controlled states adopting mid-decade gerrymanders, redrawing their congressional map to create districts more favorable for GOP candidates. Early voting begins March 6.

David M. Poole, a journalist whose commitment to public disclosure revolutionized public understanding of money in Virginia politics, will speak at the February 12 meeting of the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club.

The presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m.  in Classroom II of the LOW Community Center and is open to all.

In his book “Trusted Source,” Poole explains how the nonprofit he founded — the Virginia Public Access Project — managed to address two major challenges of our times: the demise of newspapers and the declining faith in our institutions.

“In a time of deep cynicism in many public institutions, the Virginia Public Access Project remains an outlier, commanding trust across Virginia’s political spectrum. Over a quarter century, as its mission has grown from digitizing campaign contribution reports to offering citizens an array of information about the inner workings of government, the organization has retained broad political support,” Richmond journalist Margaret Edds wrote in her foreword to “Trusted Source.”

Copies of “Trusted Source” will be available for purchase at the meeting.

Poole is a Florida native who earned a degree in Soviet and Eastern European Studies from the University of North Carolina. Before he founded VPAP in 1997, Poole wrote for newspapers in Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Tampa, Fla. He and his wife, Clare, live in Richmond.

Follow the links below to learn more about VPAP and Poole’s book.

Virginia Public Access Project

“Trusted Source” book

The LOW Democrats’ January meeting on Jan. 8 featured a program by Julie Perry, director of economic development and tourism for Orange County. (Shown here with club Chair Sharon Campione). Perry described plans to observe the 250 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence during 2026 and explained the impact of tourism on the Orange County economy. Events for the semiquincentennial celebration include visits by a travelling museum of history, a passport program of historic sites in Virginia and an exhibit at Virginia Foothills Distillery near Barboursville about Elijah Craig, an Orange County Baptist minister who is credited with being the father of bourbon whiskey.

The video below tells some of the story of Orange County’s own Elijah Craig. More information is available at VA250.org.